Titled “Transborder Narco-terrorism: Addressing a Changing Environment,” the conference will examine current transnational organized crime associated with the drug trade at the U.S.-Mexico border and its corrosive effect on the rule of law, which prevents governments from containing other transnational hazards, such as terrorism, insurgency, criminal gang activity, money laundering, and weapons and human trafficking. Policy-level strategists along with field operators and tacticians will come together for dialogue, networking and information exchange on drug cartel strategies/tactics and threats to homeland security. TCLEOSE training credits will be available for Texas peace officers, and local law enforcement and military are encouraged to attend.

Scheduled speakers include Gregory Fontenot, director of the University of Foreign Military and Cultural Studies at Fort Leavenworth; Trinidad J. Salazar, executive director of Mexico’s Transborder International Police; Matthew Addington, executive director of the El Paso Intelligence Center; Robert Soria, an agent with the Department of Homeland Security; Angelo State CSS faculty; and many other law enforcement, military and government leaders.

Topics to be covered include trends in narco-terrorism, counternarcotics policy and strategy, bulk cash smuggling, information sharing, drug-related homicide investigations, courtroom security, strategic studies, the psychology of narco-terrorists, and many other related subjects.

The extreme, drug-related violence in the U.S.-Mexico border region; the threat of narco-terror and the influence of Iranian-backed violent extremist organizations in Latin America; and the proliferation of drug cartel activity fueling transnational crime in Mexico and throughout Central America make this conference topic both timely and important.

Co-hosts for the conference are the CSS, Texas Tech University and the Policia Internacional Transfrontereza/Transborder International Police (PIT/TIP), with financial support from Ener-Tel Corporation of San Angelo. Early registration is $175 per person and late registration will be $200.